Bridle.



No. 734,094. ,PATENTED JULY 21, 1903..

Y O. W. STIEGLER.

BRIDLE APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.v

no MODEL.

Maw W 2 I PATENTED JULY 21,1903.

0. W. STIEGLER.

BRIDLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NO MODEL.

Patented .Tui 21, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAR XV. STIEGLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BRIDVLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 734,001, dated July 21,1903. Application filed March 12, 1903. Serial No. 147,364- (Nomodeh) T0(ZZZ whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, OSCAR W. STIEGLER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Man hattan, countyand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Bridles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to harness for a horse; and the said improvementshereinafter described relate more particularly to the construction ofthe bridle.

My invention contemplates such improvements as will permit of the use ofa halter, the curb-bit, and a snaffie or watering bit at the option ofthe rider.

Heretofore, so far as I know, it has been the custom to provide a halterwith a particular ki-ndof bitthat is to say, for a curb-bit a separatehalter has been employed, to which the said bit is secured, and for awatering or snaffle bit a separate and distinct halter, towhich saidsnaffle-bit was secured, was employedso that if it became necessary toat any time change the character of the bit it was necessary to removethe entire halter from the horses head and substitute another haltercarrying the particular bit desired; Furthermore, so far as I know, nomeans have been provided for permitting of the reining of the horse'inacordance with his mood or temperament or physical condition withoutremoving the entire halter and bit and substituting another bit andhalter.

My invention therefore has for its object to combine in one compactdevice a halter and; a curb and snaffle or watering bit, the halter tobe a stationary part of the harness, to which either the curb-bit or thesnaffle-bit and their respective reins can be readily attached ordetached or employed simultaneously or in dependently of the other.

My invention therefore consists in the con struction and combination ofparts hereinaf horse Fig. 4, a perspective elevation of the curb-bit andits associated parts; Fig. 5, an enlarged elevation of the snaflle-bitand its associated parts; Fig. 6, a side elevation, enlarged, of aportion of the curb and snaffle bits and halter and their associatedparts; and Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation on the line an ac, Fig. 6.

In the drawings, Fig. 3 illustrates a halter of the usual or desiredconstruction, which consists, substantially, in the forehead-strap 1,comprising the front and rear parts 2 3, hand-strap 4, throat-strap 5,nose-strap 6, comprising the sections 7 8, united by the frame 9, and alink 10, connecting the ring 11 on the nose-strap with the throat-strap,the straps being provided with buckles for adjustment in the usual wayand the foreheadstrap, head-strap, and throatstrap being united at theforeheadstrap by the rosette 12, and to the ring 11 is secured thetie-strap 13 by the strap-hook 14, all in the usual way.

One part of my improvements consists in securing a tab 15 and buckles 16or the like to any convenient portion of the halter, preferably to thehead-strap 4 at or near the rosette 12, so that the tie-strap 13 afterbeing rolled, as indicated in Fig. 1, can be passed through the buckleon the tab and there secured compactly against the horses head, d0-

ing away with the motion of the strap which has previouslylfollowed as aresult of sus pending the tie-strap loose or folded from its connectionwith the halter-that is to say, it

has been customary to fold the tie-strap conveniently when not in useand suspend it from the halter either from the ring 13 or some suchannoyance to the horse, which causes him to be more tractable, and makea compact and sightly harness fixture.

My improvements have particular application to harness equipments formilitary service, wherein preservation of the line of cavalry isexceedingly important and desirable.

Another important-requirement in'm'ilitary service is that the number ofparts of the harness shall be reduced to a minimum, their weight andexpensiveness made as little as possible, and as available space forcarrying for various parts of the horses equipment is exceedinglylimited their bulkiness has been a source of annoyance, and in order toreduce the size and number of these parts and render them moreaccessible, as well as to enable the expeditious change from one form ofbit to the other or the employment of either form of bit without removalof either from the halter, I employ the following construction:

First, I shall describe the curb-bit and its parts, it being understoodthat the curb-bit is to be employed on untractable horses. The bit andits parts are shown in Fig. 4, to which reference is now had.

At 17 is the cross-bar, 18 the links, and 19 the pending side barsforming the body of the curb 10. At the end of the side bars are rings21, to which the ends of the curb-rein 22 are adjustably secured bybuckles in the usual way. Between eyes 23 on the links 19 extends thecurb-strap 24, and between these eyes the curb head-strap 25, the end 27of which isprovided with the usual means for fastening an adjustment,and between the end 28 is strap 29, engaging a buckle 30 on thehead-strap and having a buckle 31, allowing of adjustment from theleft-hand side of the horse, and from the curb headstrap extends loopedtabs 32, for a purpose hereinafter described.

On the rear part 3 of the forehead-strap 1 of the halter is secured atab 33, Figs. 1 and 2, above the stationary end of which is mounted aheaded stud 34, the free end of the tab being provided with holes in theusual way for engagement with the stud to secure its free end to form aretaining-loop 35. To secure the curb head-strap 25 to the halter andmaintain it in its proper position, it is only necessary first to passthe bit 20 into the horses mouth and throw the curb head-strap over thehorses head, free the end of the tab 33 on the strap 3, pass the curbhead-strap under it, and secure the end of the tab to the stud 34, andthe curb-bit is in position with the rein over the horses neck, asillustrated in Fig. 1.

As will be seen in Fig. 4, the only necessary parts to the curb-bit whenmade in accordance with my invention are the head-strap, the bit itself,and the rein, which can be conveniently carried, and by its constructionI have done away with the necessity of a separate halter for thisparticular bit.

The tabs 32 on the curb head-strap form means for more fixedly securingthe headstrap to the halter; but for occasions where rapidity of changeis required these tabs need not be used, for the tab 33 on theforehead-strap 3 forms means for adequately securing the curb-bit inposition.

Should it be desired to employ a lighter bit, such as the snaffle orwatering bit, by reason of the gentle temperament of the horse or thesoftness of his mouth or for other reasons,

it can be employed independently or conjointly with the curved bit.

Fig. 2 illustrates the snaflle-bit secured to the halter and thecurb-bit removed.

Fig. 5 illustrates the snaflle-bit.

Assuming the halter to be free from either bit, as in Fig. 3, thesnaflie-bit 36, which comprises the jointed links 37and rings 38,forming the bit proper, can be readily attached to or detached from thehalter. At 39 are links connected at one end with the rings 38, securingthe ends of the bit and links together, and at the other end of thelinks is a ring 40, and secured to these rings are the locking-bars 41.These bars have a lug 42 at one side, which is apertured and throughwhich aperture the ring passes to secure the bars to the bit, and fromthe under side of said lugs depends a boss or stop 43. From the rings 38extends the snafflerein 44, the rein being provided with buckles or thelike for securement and adjustment.

To secure the snafile-bit to the halter, the ends of the locking-barsare passed upwardly along the halter head-strap 4 and through a loop onthe halter head-strap, and this motion is continued upwardly until thestop 43 on the bar lies above the bottom cross-bar 46 of the frame 9,connecting the halter headstrap and the front and rear portions of thehalter nose-band, when it is passed through and then pulled down, sothat said stop has engaged the lower bar of said frame, thoroughlysecuring the bit in position. The tabs 32 on the curb head-strap 25 cannow be employed to secure the head-strap firmly to the halter and avoidmotion between the two. To do this, before the bar 41 is passed throughthe loop 45 and secured in position, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7,the tab 32 on the curb headstrap 25 is passed into the frame 9, asillustrated in Fig. 6, and the upper end of the bar 41 passed throughthe tab before being passed through the loop 45 on the halter headstrap,the parts being then secured in position, as before described. It willthus be seen that the separate curb head-strap and snaffle -bit can besecurely expeditiously united to the halter and movement between theparts avoided, and to disengage the parts to remove the head-strap andthe curb-bit or the snafile-bit, or both, it is only necessary to raisethe bar 41 above the bottom cross-bar 46 of the frame 9 and pull out theend of the bar 41 from engagement with the loop 45 on the halterhead-strap and tab 32 on the curb head-strap, when either or both of theparts will be free to be moved. Thus it will be seen that I dispenseentirely with separate halters for each form of bit, thereby reducingthe number of necessary parts of the equipment, and provide means forexpeditiously securing or removing either form of bit to or from thehalter, allowing of the conjoint use of both or separate use of either,at the same time providing a neat, light, and economical securing saidhead-strap to the top of the halter, tabs on the head-strap adjacent itsends, and a bar for securing the tabs to the halter.

2. The combination in a harness, of a halter, a separate curb-bitprovided with a headstrap, means for securing the head-strap to thehalter, a separate snaffle-bit, and further means for detachably lockingthe curb-head strap and the snafiie-bit conjointly to the halter.

3. The combination in a harness, of a halter, a curb-bit having ahead-strap, means for securing the head-strap to the halter, asnaflie-bit, a locking bar or bars on the snaffle-bit, means forsecuring the locking-bar to the halter, and further means for unitingthe curved head-strap and said locking-bar.

4:. In a harness, the combination with the halter, having the frame 9,the head-strap 25,

the tabs 32 on the head-strap, and the locking-bar 41 havingastopengaging the frame 9. 5. In a harness, the combination of the halterhaving the frame 9, of a bit, the lockingbar 41, secured to said bit, astop onthe loc'k ing-bar bearing on the frame 9, and a loop 45 on thehalter securing the bar to the. halter, the loop and stop forming twopoints of connection of the bit to the halter.

6. In a harness, the combination of the halter having the frame 9, of acurb-bit, the loop 45 on the halter, asnaffle-bit, the locking-bar onthe snaffle-bithaving the intermediate lug and stop 43, the said ba'rengaging the loop and the stop to the frame 9.

7. In a harness, the combination with the halter having a tab 33 securedto and stud 34 extending upwardly from its forehead-band 3, and acurb-bit havinga head-strap adapted to be secured by said tab and stud,in front of said band, a snattle-bit, and means for detachablyconnecting the head-strap and snaffie-bit conjointly to the nose-band ofthe halter.

Signed inthe city, county, and State of New York this 24tth day ofFebruary, 1903.

OSCAR W. STIEGLER.

Witnesses:-

JOHN R. SULZER, ALPHONSE STALLER.

